It really doesn't matter what I do. As I lay in my bed I thought about the night's dinner. Count Branaric would never be a good politician but he was trusting and willing enough to accept that my family and I were truly on his side. His sister though…it was her who flatly refused to even entertain the thought of an alliance. I truly admired her strength and her courage, but I wished she would be more compliant. I dismissed these thoughts quickly. It wasn't her fault. I had, after all, played my role as fop and arrogant aristocrat very well. I smiled slightly and shook my head. Was there no way I could earn Meliara's trust? She and her brother were leaving the next morning. Leaving us where? Now was not the time to fret. I closed my eyes and resigned myself to sleep. For some reason, my thoughts wouldn't settle. I could not push thoughts of the Countess out of my mind. It really didn't matter what I did concerning her now. That thought was recurring, over and over. Her opinion of me was set. For a moment I grinned. If she already had determined to hate me so much then what would it matter how I treated her? I could throw a candlestick at her next time we met. No, this would not do. One, because I was far too polite to do such a thing. And two, because she assuredly did not have the catlike reflexes I had. I sighed and turned over as sleep finally claimed me.